Routine
by mayoral
Summary: Who is that new barista, and why is she here, interfering with Maribelle's schedule? (Coffeeshop!au, Maribelle/Lissa)
1. Something New

Maribelle walked calmly inside of her usual coffee shop, despite being a little bit later than she regularly was. One had to maintain an image of class in all ways, of course. As she opened the door, she heard immediate clattering and a shout of, "Oh! Sorry!"

This was not what Maribelle had come to expect over the last year. Usually, the only sound she would hear was the greeting from her favourite barista, Frederick. The rest of the patrons would be stoically using their laptops, trying to desperately finish any research papers that were due.

Today, the customers were all glancing toward the front counter, alarmed. Frederick's gaze was not directed to the door, but he was looking furiously at something down below him. A single customer was standing next to the pick-up window, tapping his foot anxiously. This was change. This was not good.

As Maribelle walked toward the counter carefully, a blonde young lady popped up from beneath the counter, holding a cup. Maribelle was immediately struck by her beauty and her gentle features. She could feel herself blushing, and thanked God that no one was looking at her.

"Lissa!" Frederick yelled at the new girl, pointing an accusing finger at her. "Now that's a cup we can't use anymore! Be more careful!"

The girl shook a little under Frederick's threatening gaze, but managed to stammer out, "Sorry, sir! It won't happen again, sir!" before giving him a salute. Then she swiftly tossed the cup into the trash and grabbed anew one. She poured some coffee into the cup and put the lid and sleeve on. She handed the cup to the man by the counter and told him her apologies for the wait. He stormed away angrily, coffee in hand, and, looking down at the cup, mumbled, "Who the hell spells Gregor wrong?"

It was then that Maribelle approached the counter, and the girl looked up and met her eyes. Her eyes were blue, and clear, and Maribelle had to remind herself that this was the girl that was complicating her already-difficult morning in order to pull her own eyes away from them.

"Haha, sorry about that, I'm new and training today. I'm Lissa! What can I get you?" she greeted warmly. Maribelle was a little taken aback; she hadn't had to tell her barista her order in months. Frederick always just knew; she was a regular customer after all. She simply glanced at Frederick, and he quickly realized what to do.

"Ah! I'm so sorry! Lissa, this is Maribelle. She's a regular customer here. She always gets a tall cup of hot black tea. Since you'll be working this shift, you'll be seeing her a lot from now on, so you better memorize her order now. Now, let's get that tea going!"

Lissa looked at Maribelle curiously for a moment, but quickly turned around and followed Frederick's instructions on how to make the tea. Maribelle watched her silently for a moment, but suddenly the silence was broken by a loud, deep yell.

"Lissa!" Frederick screamed. "You burned me! For God's sake, be careful!" Seeing the patrons' glares, he quieted himself down into a loud, frantic whisper as he reprimanded her. Maribelle rubbed her temples and sighed. At this rate, any hope of her making class on time was gone. Why did this girl have to intrude into her routine?

After what seemed like hours, Maribelle finally received her tea from the new recruit.

"I'm sorry," the girl said. "I promise I'll do better tomorrow!" Her eyes shone with a fierce determination as she handed the cup over to Maribelle. That was admirable, at least. Maribelle couldn't help but smile a little bit.

"We all have to begin somewhere, I suppose," Maribelle swiftly replied. Lissa nodded her head firmly and positively radiated at the acceptance. Frederick raised his eyebrows a little at Maribelle in the background, surprised at her good mood (especially before having her caffeine!) Maribelle rolled her eyes at him as she turned to leave. She briefly saw Lissa proffering a Band-Aid to him to help with his burn, and Frederick laughing. As she left the coffee shop, thinking about just how late she was going to be, she looked down at her cup.

Mary-belle was scrawled on it in almost ineligible handwriting.


	2. A Secret

**A/N: I don't own these cuties.**

The next day Maribelle entered the small café, there was no clattering of a falling item nor any exclamation of alarm. She did not see the man, Gregor, waiting for his coffee. It was almost as if the previous day had never happened. But as she looked at the counter to greet Frederick, she noticed Lissa standing by the register instead.

"Hi there Maribelle!" Lissa happily said to her. She looked far too excited for this early in the morning. It was still dark out, for God's sake!

"Good morning, Lissa," Maribelle calmly greeted back. "I'll have my usual, if you can remember what it is." A challenge was issued in her voice, and Lissa's expression turned bold.

"Of course I remember!" she proclaimed proudly, putting her hands on her hips triumphantly. "You take a tall hot green tea!" Her eyes turned to Maribelle's to verify her response, indicating that although she seemed confident, she wasn't entirely sure.

"You're very close, but I'm afraid that's not quite it," Maribelle replied, seeing Lissa's face fall in defeat. "It's black tea instead of green. It's a bit more... cultured."

Lissa quickly regained her composure as she made an affirmative noise and grabbed a cup to start writing down the order. Maribelle quickly remembered the previous day and interjected her as she was writing.

"Oh, and by the way, it's M-A-R-I-B-E-L-L-E," she spelled out. "All one word." Lissa just looked up at her in acknowledgement before glancing back down and smiling a little.

She turned around and began to make the tea, always under the wary eye of Frederick. He hadn't said anything so far, which was unlike him, but Maribelle supposed he was seeing how well Lissa could handle a customer completely on her own. His gaze was calm, until all of a sudden his eyebrows shot up and Lissa let out a small cry. Maribelle couldn't see what had happened, and she was worried.

"Ah! That hurts!" Lissa cried out, turning around and dramatically shaking her hand out. Maribelle could now see a small red mark on her hand, a burn, and let herself calm down from the sudden danger. She was somewhat surprised at her own reaction, usually in crises she remained calm. She shrugged it off as nothing, though, it was the morning, she hadn't had her tea yet, and she was a little on edge.

Before long, Maribelle found a tall cup being offered to her. However, as she reached out to grab it, Lissa quickly pulled the cup back and looked at her with renewed vigor, as if she had just realized something.

"Wait!" she said far too loudly. "I was going to ask you... why do you drink tea instead of coffee? I would understand if you were European or something, but you don't have an accent... And besides, coffee has more caffeine anyways!"

"Simply put, I prefer it, personally, over that glorified bean juice the rest of this lovely country seems to think favourable. It's also much... higher-end, don't you think?" It took Maribelle a few moments to say this, her still-dozing head a little bit late to respond, but when she did, she wore a proud smirk on her face.

"Ah! Yeah, I guess you have a point about it looking richer and all, but I take offense to that coffee comment! Obviously, you've just never had some of ours!" Lissa replied, looking defiant.

"Very nice selling technique, Lissa, but why don't you give the nice lady her tea now," Frederick half-scolded her, trying (and failing) to keep from chuckling.

After a sound of exclamation from Lissa, she thrust the drink back at Maribelle, bowing her head a little and mumbling apologies. Maribelle took the cup, noticing that their hands didn't touch and internally reprimanding herself for taking note. Then she quickly hurried out the door, afraid she would be late, and looked down at her cup.

MariBelle. So close.

Back inside the café, Frederick had now allowed himself to put his head on the counter and let laughter wash over his body. Lissa just looked at him funny before poking him in the side and raising an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he stuttered out, still laughing. "It's just that *ha* I didn't get to banter with her like that until I'd known her for a few months! And the look on her face...!" His giggling renewed but Lissa's confusion was as prevalent as ever.

"Hey! What is it? C'mon, Freddie! I wanna know!" At this point she was tugging at his sleeve, trying to get him to look at her.

"I wish I could tell you, Lissa, I really do, but it's not my secret to tell!" Her furrowed eyebrows and gaping mouth set him off into a new round of hysterics. Lissa didn't think she'd ever seen him have this much fun, and she'd known him since 4th grade!

"A secret? What's going on? Frederick, " she said her tone turning somber. "If you don't tell me I'll tell mom."

"And then I'll tell her the secret and she'll understand! Just give up, Lissa. Besides, I think I see a customer coming."

Sure enough, the familiar jingling of bells alerted them to another one of their regulars.


End file.
